Warehouse 13: (Part I) Where is Everyone?
by A Rhea King
Summary: The team wakes up to find they are the only living creatures on the planet and have scattered memories. Claudia & Steve, stranded in Munich, attempt to continue on their artifact quest. In Seattle, Pete deals with Myka whose memories have nearly been wiped. As she begins to remember events leading up to the day, the two suspect she may have caused this calamity.
1. Chapter 1

Warehouse 13

"Where is Everyone?"

By A. Rhea King

"_I saw a vision in my sleep_

_I saw the last of human mould,_

_Around that lonely man!_

_Some had expired in fight,-the brands_

_Earth's cities had no sound nor tread"_

—_Thomas Campbell_

* * *

_Chapter 1_

There wasn't a sound. As her eyes opened she became fully aware of that fact. Then she became aware that wasn't really the correct thought. There was sound. She heard lights quietly buzzing, somewhere air or wind whispered through a tight space.

Claudia Donovan sat up, staring down the airport terminal. The. Empty. Airport terminal.

Her heart leapt when she heard someone cough and she turned. Her heart returned to a normal beat when she found the person Steve Jinks lying on the floor next to her. She also realized he was the ONLY person.

"Steve," Claudia said.

Her voice echoed in the silence, so she repeated his name quieter. "Jinksy." She got to her hands and knees, crawling to him.

He rolled onto his side, toward her voice. That made her smile. At least he recognized her.

"Are we… I dunno," he muttered, "I don't want to know. My head hurts. Does yours… Did someone hit us over the head, because my—"

"Hey. Shut up." She batted his arm. "And open your eyes, dufus."

He opened his eyes. It took him about as long as it had her to realize what was wrong with the situation. He sat up, taking in everything slowly. He looked at her. They were close enough they could kiss – if that was even a remote a possibility.

"Claudia... We're…"

"If you think being the only two people in the Munich Airport is weird, you should stop talking and listen."

He stopped talking. For minutes he even held his breath. "I don't hear any planes, or…Anything. It's silent." He got to his feet and trotted to a window. She followed him. There was nothing moving outside and the planes sat gleaming in the sunlight, free of their human crews and passengers.

"The last thing I remember is falling asleep on the plane," he looked down at her.

"Ditto."

"So if there are no people, who landed our plane and how did we get to the airport without being woke up? You sleep like a leaf."

"Thanks." She flashed him a smile. "You sleep like a log."

He almost smiled – but the situation was a little too pressing to make jokes.

"What the hell happened?" Steve said, looking back outside.

#

That same thought crossed Arthur Nielsen's mind as he rolled onto his side to sit up. He stared at the fireplace, blinking away his fuzzy vision. Then he realized he had no glasses on, which accounted for the fuzzy vision. He patted his pockets and then spotted his glasses by the couch. He pulled them on and the world cleared up. He got to his feet.

"Artie," a voice said behind him.

He turned, watching Leena walk into the room. She had her hand to her head.

"How did I get here?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea."

"Are you okay?"

"No. My head is killing me."

Artie took her arm and guided her to a couch. He sat down next to her, looking at his watch. He tapped it, and then tapped it again.

"My watch has stopped."

"So has mine," a familiar voice said behind them.

The two watched Mrs. Frederic enter the room. She was staring at her watch.

"How… How did you get here?" he asked.

She looked down at him. "I don't know. I was in Egypt and then I woke up on the kitchen floor. I heard you and Leena speaking."

"I was on my way to Des Moines. The last thing I remember is being in my car and then… Here."

"Something is wrong," Leena said.

Their attention turned to her. She looked at Artie.

"Something is very wrong. There aren't any birds."

The three held their breath to listen. She was right. The birds that usually sang nonstop from the trees around the bed and breakfast were gone.

"Something very bad has happened, Artie."

Artie patted his pockets until he retrieved his Farnsworth. He tapped buttons and it didn't even finish a ring when the anxious faces of Claudia and Steve appeared.

"ARTIE!" Claudia said. "Artie, we're in Munich and—"

"There is no one here, Artie," Steve finished. "We took a chance and left the airport. The entire city is deserted."

"One point three million people have _vanished_." Claudia finished.

"Alright. Alright. You two are okay? You're not hurt?"

"Other than being stranded in a creepy empty metropolitan, yeah. We're great."

"Leena and Mrs. Frederic are here with me, we're okay. I have to get a hold of Pete and Myka. Do you think you can still look for the artifact?"

"There isn't anyone in the city. We could rob a bank without anyone stopping us."

"Get the artifact and then wait at the airport. Let's not jump ahead of things until I can figure out what happened and how… How to fix it." Artie hung up before Claudia or Steve could ask him how.

"We don't know how extensive this is, Artie," Leena told him.

"Why don't you go into town and find out?"

"You want us to separate?" Mrs. Frederic asked.

"Don't you think we should right now? Leena is right. We don't know if people are missing just from Munich or everywhere. We need to know."

Mrs. Frederic considered the fact and then headed for the door. Leena followed her. Artie adjusted the dial and tapped a button. The Farnsworth started ringing…


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

He wasn't sure what made him open his eyes. It could have been the ringing in the distance, the fact his back was cold, or a low, annoying hum nearby. Pete Lattimer slowly rolled onto his side, sliding his arm up to balance himself on it. Then he rolled/climbed onto his knees with his head in his hands on the floor. His head pounded as if someone had hit it with a hammer.

"Myka," he called out.

She didn't answer him.

Pete tried to get his feet under him, but fell back, sitting down hard on his hip. He caught himself with both hands on one side. It was an awkward position. He looked up and stared at a Taco Bell menu. Pete sat down, looking both directions. He realized he was in a sports stadium, but which one and how he'd gotten there were mysteries still.

The ringing started again and he turned to look in the direction of it. Pete climbed to his feet and almost fell over when the world swam. He staggered to the wall and waited for the dizziness to pass. The ringing stopped by that time his head cleared.

Pete started walking.

"Myka," he called.

She didn't answer.

Pete passed a window and stopped, staring at the parking lot below. There were no cars in the parking lot and there weren't any people. Maybe this wasn't a game day.

The ringing started again. Pete headed for the noise. He was almost on it when it stopped. Pete walked through double doors onto an outside level of the stadium and found Myka on the floor.

"Mikes. Myka." He patted her face. "Hey, wake up. Myka. Myka look at me. Come on."

Her eyes fluttered open. She suddenly flew away from him with her back to the entrance wall. She pulled her sidearm from the holster at her side and aimed at him.

"Who are you?" Myka demanded

Pete put his hands up. "Easy. Easy Myka. It's me. It's Pete."

"Who are you?" she repeated.

"Pete. I'm your partner."

"I don't remember you."

"Today just keeps getting better and better." He sat down across from her and massaged his aching temples.

The ringing started again. It was coming from Myka's jacket. She patted herself until she produced a metal box that was the source of the ringing.

"Why is this ringing?"

"It's a Farnsworth."

"A what?"

"You have to answer it. Like a cellphone. It's probably Artie."

"What? Who?"

Pete patted the cement. "Slide it to me, Mikes."

She hesitated but slid it to him. Pete opened the lid and Artie's face appeared. Myka got to her feet, keeping her gun aimed at Pete.

"Where have you been?" Artie haughtily demanded.

"Taking a nap in front of Taco Bell at what I think is the Kingdome."

"Yes, most likely. I sent you and Myka to Seattle."

"Artie, something bad has happened here. There are no people here. I saw a board that said there was a game today. There should be people all over this stadium."

"Something bad has happened all over the world. Claudia and Steve are in Munich, and have reported there are no people there. Leena and Mrs. Frederic just got back from Univille and there are no people here either."

Pete scrunched his face. He moved to a stadium chair, leaning on his legs. "What…" He rubbed the back of his neck. He wished his headache would go away so he could think more clearly.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I have a migraine."

"So do I," Leena said in the background.

"Assumedly Myka and I were looking for an artifact. Do you know what artifact? Maybe who we suspected had it even?"

"Gold," Myka said.

Pete looked up at her. "What?"

"We… Or at least I was, looking for something gold."

"I have a piece of paper here," Leena told them. "It's a note I took from Myka. It says gold, plain, twelve inches high, and used for tea."

"A gold teapot?" Pete asked.

"It could be a pot, a cup." Artie scrubbed his forehead – his tell that he was frustrated. "Keep looking for it."

Pete massaged his neck for a moment. "Isn't that going to be kind of hard to do, Artie?"

"Why do you say that?"

Myka's cellphone started ringing. She patted pockets until she found it and answered it.

"Hello?"

Pete watched her gun drift down and she quickly walked away from him to talk to the caller.

"We need people to find artifacts. If people aren't acting strange or doing strange things or having strange things happen to them, we can't exactly follow the artifact, now can we?"

Artie leaned into the screen. "That artifact led you to that stadium, Pete. If it is there, you two will find it. You have to find it."

"Thanks. I think."

"Good luck." Artie disappeared off the screen.

Pete looked up as he watched Myka walk back to him. She clutched the cellphone in one hand so tight that her knuckles were white, while the other had a strangle hold on the stock of her gun. She had paled.

"P… Pete, right?" she asked.

"Yeah. That's right, Myka."

"We're partners and we work for the government?"

"Yes."

"That, uhm… That was my sister. She's with my parents and, uhm… They are the only humans in Colorado Springs."

"Artie said the same thing about Univille, South Dakota and Munich, Germany. We can assume it's the same here."

Myka sat down in one chair away from him. "We're in Seattle."

"Yeah. Why don't you holster your gun before you have an accident?"

She did that. He reached across her and flicked the safety.

"Thanks," she whispered.

Pete took her hand gripping the cellphone and she looked at him. She was shaking – something she rarely did. Her eyes were huge with shock and fear.

"Myka, we have been through worse."

"When?"

"You don't remember them now, but there have been lots of times. And guess what? We always get through those times. This one won't be any different. I promise."

"Why do you remember them? It sounded like even that Artie and other woman didn't have memories. Why do you?"

"I don't know."

"So how can you be so sure we're going to get through this? How can you make a promise like that?

"Because you and I are together and we save the world on a weekly basis when we're together. That's how it's been for five years now. Today is no different."

"I don't remember you. I almost didn't remember my sister or parents."

"You remembered looking for something gold. I believe that means your memories will come back; that they are just on hiatus right now. I believe that, Myka."

A tear escaped and she looked away. She nodded. Myka let her cellphone go in her lap and held on tightly to his hand.

"Okay. I trust you Pete. I… I may not know you, but I trust you."

He smiled when she looked at him again. The return smile was weak and uncertain.

#

Claudia stopped at a car, looking inside.

"Found one," she called out. She opened the driver side door and climbed in.

Steve opened the passenger door but didn't get in.

"Let's just keep walking, Claud."

"I am not walking all over this city in search of an artifact _that requires people to find_." Claudia gave him a level look. "But hey, if you want to, it's not like leaving you here will do you any harm. There's no one to harm you."

He didn't look pleased but he did get in. She started the car and pulled onto the street. She started gaining speed.

"So it's Mary Worthington's mirror," Steve said.

"Yeah." Claudia began looking on the floor and next to her. "You look into it, say her name three times, you die."

"Why would anyone even say her name? You said it's not anywhere on the mirror."

She jerked her head up. "Seriously? You don't know the story of Bloody Mary?"

"Yeah, no."

"Sheltered child. This car must be broken."

"Why?"

"I can't go over sixteen kilometers."

"Maybe it has a touchy gas pedal."

She tromped her foot down on the gas pedal. The car didn't speed up.

"We could walk," Steve suggested.

She settled back in the seat. "Driving at ten miles an hours is far better than walking."

Steve smirked.

#

Pete glanced back at Myka. She looked so lost but he knew there was nothing he could say that would help. Her memories had to come back on their own. He stopped at a Subway booth and vaulted over the counter.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm starving. You want something?"

"No."

Pete found fresh bread in the warmer and pulled out a loaf. He started to cut it but stopped and grinned.

"I have always wanted to have a full one of these. Why not today?"

She smiled a little when he looked up at her.

Pete began making his man-sized-sub.

"So there's no one else in the world, just the two of us in Seattle right now. If you could do anything at all, what would you do?" Pete asked her.

"Find out what happened to everyone else."

"Oh come on now. Play along a little."

She hugged her chest. "Go to the Space Needle."

"And?"

"And what?"

"What would you do?"

She shrugged. "I haven't thought that far."

"Throw water balloons off the top? That would be fun. Ooo!" He stopped, wagging his mayonnaise covered spatula at her. "Wouldn't that be fun to do from the Eiffel Tower? And no one around to get hurt. That would be a blast!"

The two fell silent. Pete glanced up when she came to the counter to watch him.

"Change your mind?"

"No. Pete… We're not going to fix this."

He just smiled.

"We aren't. We don't even know that caused it."

"Sure we do."

"We do?"

"Whatever you found that was gold, twelve inches high, and used for tea. We just have to find that."

"We're in a stadium, in a city that _had_ a population of over sixty-two thousand. How do you plan to find it?"

Pete finished his sub and sat it on a tray. He turned and finger tapped across the cups to the largest one. Pete began mixing up sodas.

"I haven't made a suicide since I was a kid. Want a soda, Myka?"

She hesitated. "Ice water is fine."

Finished with the drinks he sat them on the tray with the sub. Pete vaulted over the counter again and picked up his sandwich and their drinks. He carried them over to a table next to a window and sat down with them. She followed and flung herself into a chair. Pete handed her water over.

"You know… Whatever this thing is I think it's affecting you too, Myka."

"Yeah. I have no memories!"

"You are never this pessimistic." Pete bit into his sandwich. "Oh… Oh yeah. This is heaven. Heaven on Honey Wheat!"

She laughed a little.

"I'm sorry I'm being so pessimistic."

He swallowed his bite with a drink of soda. "S'okay. Considering the situation." Pete looked out the window at the city. "I think you need to enjoy this moment of peace while we can. Who knows when the next time will be that we get the whole world to ourselves?"

Myka sipped her water. "I almost lost you. You almost died."

He stopped eating. "What?"

"On our last assignment, when Stanley Milgram's radio shocked you because I gave it the wrong answer. You stopped breathing, and your heart stopped… And…" She grimaced. "I didn't think I was going to get you back. It took so long for you to start breathing, Pete."

He sat his sandwich down. "But I did come back to life, didn't I? Heartbeat, breathing, all of it. You saved me. You always do."

A tear slid down her face. In a hoarse voice she asked, "But what about the time I'm not there to save you? What then? Who will save you then?"

"Mikes…" He took her hand. "Hey. Don't live on possibilities. Live on the now. Good things are happening right now. We aren't hurt, there's no zombies chasing us, we still have air conditioning, and we're having fun chasing an artifact down."

"This is fun?"

"Sure! If I had to be stuck on the planet with only one person, I am totally stoked it's you."

She smiled. Pete went back to eating.

"Always the optimist, aren't you?"

"Yep." From the other end of his sandwich, Pete tore off a small piece and sat it on a napkin. He slid it in front of Myka. "Eat something. When you get worried about something, you don't eat, then you get sick"

She smiled. "I've been doing that since I was a child. We have been partners for a while, haven't we?"

Pete nodded. The two stopped talking while they ate. The heavy silence surrounding them did not go unnoticed.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

Claudia sighed. She had her elbow on the edge of the open window and her head in her hand, and rasped her fingers against her head. She tromped the gas pedal to the floor of the sports car. The engine revved, but still it drove along at a crawl of 10 miles per hour.

Steve smiled but kept his mouth shut. Instead he enjoyed the day. He'd been in Munich many times, but he never had time to really see Munich. He couldn't explain why no car they were in would go faster than 10 miles per hour, but he wasn't too concerned about it.

"FINALLY! 1245 K..Kr…Kr-ooo-eg…"

"1245 Kruëkger," he quickly corrected.

She shot him a dark look. "Right." And parked the car outside the front gate.

The two looked at the three story town home with a small fenced front yard and a drive at the side that sloped down to a garage under the home. They got out and walked up to the gate.

"Beware of dogs," Steve said, motioning to the sign.

"I can read German," she told him as she pushed the gate open. "Just can't speak it as well."

He kept his chuckle quiet.

Inside the yard no dogs raced around a corner, prepared to take test bites out of them. They went up to the front door and Claudia tried the knob, finding it was unlocked. The two walked into a foyer with old, dark stained wood floors. The board creaked under their weight.

"Hello?" Claudia called.

"You really think someone's going to be here when the entire city is missing?"

"It could happen."

"Zombie movies?"

"Are there any better for end of world survival lessons?"

The two smiled at the joke.

The two started through the house. They came to the kitchen and Claudia froze.

"What?"

"The dog bowls have food and water in them."

"We saw a sign on the front gate. Maybe they got out when everyone disappeared."

Claudia walked to the back door, pushing it open. "Do you hear any birds, Steve?"

He walked up to her. "What's going on, Claudia?"

When she looked up he saw tears in her eyes. "There are no birds, Jinksy. I did not see one cat or dog on the way here. There are supposed to be dogs here but there are none. It's not just the people that are gone."

"We'll figure this out. We always do."

She looked out the door again. "Everything is gone, Jinksy. And why won't the cars go past 10 miles an hour? What is up with that?"

He didn't answer – not that he had any answers.

Quietly she admitted, "I'm scared."

He pulled her next to him and hugged her with one arm. "So am I."

"Really?"

"Really. Why don't you start looking for the mirror? I'll go check that shed out there."

She nodded.

Steve walked out the door and crossed the lawn toward a shed. He kept an eye open for the dogs, but still he saw nothing. He stepped inside and turned, watching the house. He didn't want Claudia hearing anything he was about to say. Steve pulled the Farnsworth out and tapped a button.

Artie appeared.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you have any idea what is going on yet?"

"No. Where are you?"

"At the address you gave us. There are no animals here, Artie."

"What?"

"Along with the people have disappeared, there are no animals. There are no birds and this place is supposed to have dogs. They're gone too."

"Interesting…" Artie thought about the new information.

Leena appeared in the screen. "There are no birds or other animals here, either."

"There aren't?"

"FOUND IT!" Claudia called out.

Steve looked out the crack of the doors. Claudia was standing on a balcony, looking at the shed. Steve sat the Farnsworth down and stepped out where she could see him.

"You have Mary Worthington's mirror?"

"Yeah." She held up the prize. "But when I put in the neutralizer bag, it hardly sparked."

"That can't be right."

"Yes it can," he heard Artie say behind him.

Claudia couldn't hear him from the balcony.

"I'll be right in," Steve told her.

She grinned. "Let's take this guy's car."

"What?"

"This guy has picture of his car everywhere and it's hot. Let's take it back to the airport."

He laughed. "Fine. I'll meet you in the garage."

She clapped and then pranced back inside. Steve went back into the shed and picked up the Farnsworth.

"She's really upset by all this. I didn't want her to know we're talking until she calms down."

"She said it hardly sparked," Artie said, disregarding the explanation.

"Yeah."

"That's because it isn't connected to anyone."

"What do you mean?"

"The artifact has to connect to someone to keep its strength up. Whoever it was connected to has vanished."

"So… We have the right mirror?"

"If it sparked a little, I'd say yes."

"Alright. I have to go."

"Steve."

He folded the Farnsworth out.

"Yeah?"

"We'll figure this out."

"I just told Claudia that to make her feel better."

"Steve, we will figure this out. Do not be scared."

"I never said I was…"

"You don't have to."

Steve smiled. "Thanks, Artie." He closed the Farnsworth and headed for the house.

#

Artie watched Steve face disappear and stared at the blank screen. Leena was sitting next to him. She laid a hand on his arm.

'We have to figure this out, Leena. We have to bring the population back."

She leaned over, laying her head on his shoulder.

Behind them, Mrs. Frederic sat in an easy chair watching them. Her stoic expression and taunt posture did not hint that she was also afraid. In her lifetime, she could not recall an artifact erasing all but warehouse agents.

#

Myka and Pete passed a window. Myka slowed to a stop, staring at the land outside. The sun was setting on Seattle, basting everything in a deep golden glow. It should have been a beautiful sight, but without people, it was just a sunset. Myka closed her eyes against the tears welling up. She couldn't shake her guilty feeling, like she was somehow responsible for all of this.

Myka gasped when a memory came back. It was a jarring one, and she suddenly knew—

"Myka," Pete called.

She turned to him. He was standing in the golden light of the sunset. The sunlight cast a glow around him like a golden aura. Briefly she wondered if that's what his aura looked like to Leena. The thought dropped away when she knew she had to tell him what she remembered. She had to be honest with her closest friend.

"I caused this."

He smiled, shaking his head a little. "You caused what?"

"I caused all of this, Pete. I remembered what happened when we got here, to the stadium." He started to speak but she cut him off. "When we found the last victim he had suffocated in his apartment under tons – literally tons – of hundred dollar bills. That's when I put all of the cases together and said this doesn't sound like a lucky coin like Artie believed; it sounds like something a genie with a vengeance would do." She took slow, deliberate steps toward Pete. "Then we heard on the radio that someone here at the stadium won some competition that no one had won in five years, so we came straight here. We split up to look for it and I found it… I can't remember where, but it was here in the stadium. I picked it up with gloves. I realized what I was holding. I thought about how you almost died on our last. And I thought about how nearly every agent at the warehouse has died a horrible death. I thought about you, and Artie, Claudia… And my family. And I couldn't let that happen anymore. So I rubbed thing the genie was in and I told the genie that I wished everyone I loved and cared about would never be in danger again, would always be safe, and could live in a peaceful world."

Myka stopped walking, staring at him. The light seemed to have brightened as it was about to sink below the horizon. Pete smiled.

"I know you caused this, Myka. I didn't know how, but I know you did it," he told her.

"You… How do you know?"

"Myka, I'm your partner. I've been your partner for five years now. I know when you're feeling guilty, even if you don't know why. I just knew you had something to do with this. Plus, I've seen enough effects of artifacts to know when someone has messed with one, especially those with the best of intentions. Your lost memories were a dead giveaway."

"Why aren't you mad at me?"

"Really? Do we have enough fingers and toes to count how many times Pete Lattimer has nearly gotten us killed because I touched some artifact, even after you warned me not to? Who am I to judge?"

She smiled, hugging him. He hugged her back.

"I really am sorry, Pete."

"Well, let's not tell anyone else about this, okay? It was an accident, your wrist rubbed it, and the genie lied. Sound good?"

She stepped back and nodded.

"Okay. So let's fix this planet!"

"You think we can?"

"Hey, are we not artifact finders and fixers?" Pete patted his chest and then pointed at her. "You and me, Mikes. The world breaks, we fix it. That's our job. J-o-b. Job!"

She laughed.

"There she is!" He turned. "Now. Let's go find a genie and a lamp."

Myka followed Pete, continuing their search.

#

Through the silent streets of Munich a red Porsche Cerrera crept at ten miles per hour.

Inside Steve held the bagged artifact mirror, watching the street, and pressing his lips tightly together so he wouldn't say something.

Behind the wheel Claudia's mouth was twisted into a tight, angry expression. Her foot pressed the gas pedal to the floor and yet they crept along at ten miles per hour.

"Maybe we should pull over here. Get something to drink," Steve suggested, pointing at a corner bodega.

She sneered. "I should be ripping through these streets at a neck breaking speed of eighty miles an hour, Jinksy. At any minute I do expect to see an old guy with a walker pass us."

The movie reference made it difficult for Steve to choke back his laughter.

"Do not laugh! I will kick you out of the car!"

"I can keep up. I move faster than an old guy with a walker."

She turned a glare on him. "You are not—"

The Farnsworth ringing saved his ears burning from a string of obscenities; reminding him she was not as refined as she came across most days.

"Dad's calling." He quickly answered it.

"Lucky you," she growled.

Steve snapped it open, smiling at Artie.

"Did you get the mirror?" Artie asked.

"Yep. Got it. Bagged it. The world hasn't changed back."

"Then it's gotta be whatever Myka and Pete are looking for. How soon can you get back here?"

Steve eyebrows drifted up. Claudia scoffed.

"Are… Are you kidding?" Steve asked.

"No. Why would I be kidding?"

"We are stranded in Germany!" Claudia yelled, "with cars, which I do mean plural, that will not go over ten miles an hour, Artie. Now, I may be crazy in this thought, but the chances are this whole lack of speed is wide-spread which means we aren't flying, and crossing an ocean at ten miles an hour in a boat is sure to take _a few years_!"

"What?" Artie asked

"We have tried at least ten cars and a couple motorcycles, Artie," Steve explained. "Nothing will move over ten miles an hour."

"Leena reported the same problem. I thought it was just her car." Suddenly Artie's face switched to his epiphany expression. "Which means… Find a way home, you two." And he was gone.

Steve sighed. He had a sinking feeling it was going to be a long, long journey back to South Dakota.

#

"I've found it!" Leena said.

Artie turned from his computer screen; Mrs. Frederic looked up from her book. Leena was leaning over an ancient book.

The two book-ended her. She pointed at a plain gold teapot.

"What is it?" Frederic asked.

"It's a genie lamp."

"Are you sure?" Artie asked.

"I'm positive." She pointed at the text that was written in a language long dead. "The gypsies used these to capture innocent souls in, turn them to genies, and used them as trade or for personal gain. This matches the description Myka gave me."

Artie sat down at his computer and retrieved several Seattle Police files. He glanced through them and began nodding. "All the reports have two things in common. The deceased fell into some kind of luck right before dying, and the only thing missing from their homes was a gold teapot. We are dealing with a genie."

Artie moved over to his Farnsworth and flipped it open.

#

Myka poked a broom into the dark corners of a closet, checking every spot for something twelve inches high, gold, and used for tea.

"Myka," Pete said.

Her heart skipped a beat and then she turned. Pete was holding up the Farnsworth so she could see Artie and Leena.

She moved around next to him.

"You are looking for this," Artie said, and showed them the picture.

"That's the genie's lamp!" Myka said excitedly.

Artie moved the book. "You know what you're looking for?"

"Myka has most of her memories back, so yeah. It has a genie in it, right?"

"Right… Which of you touched the lamp with your bare hand?"

Pete grinned. Through gritted teeth he asked, "What?"

"You!" He pointed at Pete. "You touched it, didn't you?"

Pete's smile wavered. "Yes. It rubbed against my wrist."

Myka looked at him.

Artie stared at him for a long moment and Pete held it. Myka looked somewhere else, trying to stomach the fall her partner just took for her.

"What did you wish for, Pete?" Artie asked.

"It was an accident. That part was an accident."

"That _part_ was an accident?"

"It was all, one, big, accidental accident. And stuff."

There was silence between the two.

"Lattimer, what did you wish for?" Mrs. Frederic asked.

"I couldn't figure out how come it wouldn't go back in the pot and so I said something like I wish there was no one around for it to hurt. Then I woke up on the floor of the stadium hallway."

"That doesn't sound right," Leena said.

"What doesn't?" Artie asked her.

Leena looked at Myka and she sighed. "It sounds like you have a trickster."

"A trickster?"

"A genie that will twist a wish so it's fulfilled, but not in the way the wisher wanted. You ask for gold, it makes you rob a bank or someone you know rob one for you. You want fame, it makes you commit a crime that makes you infamous. You asked for no one around to hurt, it took away the world's population."

"Then why are we still here?" Mrs. Frederic asked. "More specifically, why am _I_ here?"

"I care about you, Mrs. Frederic," Pete said.

Pete did not convince anyone and an awkward silence followed.

Myka broke it, asking Artie, "So we need to get the teapot, neutralize it, and everything will go back to normal, right?"

Artie answered, "Yes," at the same time Leena answered, "Maybe."

Pete waited for an answer before asking the obvious. "Which is it?"

"When we've neutralized some genie vessels…" Artie didn't want to admit the next sentence. "Things stayed the way they were. Neutralizing them doesn't necessarily mean things will return to normal."

"What would for sure?"

"Making another wish," Leena said, "but that's far too risky. This genie has already shown he or she can't be trusted."

"You make it sound like there's a person in this thing, not some really angry spirit hell-bent on destroying human," Pete commented.

Artie answered "It's a demon," at the same time Leena answered, "It's a human."

Frustrated by the indecisiveness, Pete looked to Myka.

"According to all the stories, myths, and legends I know about genies, they are both right," Myka answered. "Some say genies are demons, others say they're people being punished or who were tricked into being genies."

"So this one could be human. It might be reasoned with."

"No, Pete," Artie shook his finger at him. "You cannot _reason_ with a gene. There is not one genie vessel we have collected where the genie didn't trick people."

Pete leaned in. "Just how many of these genie vessels are in the warehouse, Artie?"

"We have an extensive collection."

"Over two thousand," Leena answered.

Pete blinked. Myka was shocked.

"We'll go find this genie and teapot," Myka said and snapped the Farnsworth shut. "Why did you lie for me like that?"

"He expects me to mess up. It was easier."

"Thanks. Again."

He patted her shoulder. "Welcome. Let's keep looking."


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

Myka and Pete turned a corner and walked out double doors onto the fourth level of the stadium. Night had fallen but the setting felt surreal. There were no sounds of traffic, no planes, even the bugs were gone.

She sat down in a chair with a heavy sigh.

"Come on, we still have one more level and the basement," Pete encouraged. "I'm dying to see what those VIP boxes look like. I've heard they're pretty posh. I bet they have lots of good food."

She smiled a little. "Thinking with your stomach again?"

"I am hungry." Pete sat down next to her, watching her. "How are you doing, Mikes?"

She smiled at him, patting his leg. "Oh, you know. I wiped out the entire population of humans, animals, apparently bugs… All in all, I've had a pretty terrific day."

Pete sat back, looking at the baseball field below them. "You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to streak across that field."

She looked at him. "What?"

"Yeah. When we get back to the first level, I'm just gonna haul off and streak across that field."

"Naked?"

"Yeah. How else do you streak?"

"Pete!"

"What?"

"Pete!"

"There's no one here to see me."

"I'm here." She waved her arms in front of his face.

"Yeah. So?"

"I do not want to see you naked." She turned in her seat.

"You've seen me naked plenty of times."

"I didn't want to see you naked those times, either."

"Hey. I take good care of my body." He patted his abdomen. "Some cardio, some weights…"

"I don't want to see you naked."

"I have a nice butt too."

She lifted her eyebrows.

"I do!"

She shook her head. "Time to find a genie."

"And I have a nice pair of—"

She pointed a finger in front of his face. "Enough!"

He smirked. "Eyes."

"What if the teapot isn't here?" Myka leaned over, put her elbows on her legs and her chin in her hands.

"We'll keep searching. We came to Seattle, so it's gotta be here somewhere."

"Without people using it to get in trouble, we can't exactly track it. And Seattle his huge! We'll be old by the time we find it."

Pete leaned into a long, hard laugh. Myka smiled, watching him. He caught his breath.

"Did you hear what you just did there?"

"What I… No. What?"

"You just put a positive twist on the un-positive, Myka. You just pulled a Pete!" He stood and she joined him. The two began strolling down the walkway.

She smiled, catching up to him. "I did, didn't I?"

"Now don't go getting all cocky."

She looked serious when he looked back her. "No. Not at all."

"You know, there's something bugging me about this genie stuff."

"We're in a world with no people or animals?"

"No. What if genies are people?"

"What if they are?"

"They're trapped in these teapots or lamps or candlesticks or whatever, forever. Hell, if I were stuck like that, I'd want to trick people into stuff just to entertain myself."

"They were criminals."

"You didn't say that earlier. You said some were tricked."

"You're assuming what I said was true. For all we know, they are demons."

"But what if they aren't, Myka. What if these are people trapped in prisons because they were tricked? And what about the ones who didn't do anything really bad? Even I know that way back when killing someone was punished the same as stealing bread. Or what if the person was just in the wrong place at the wrong time? There isn't one of these scenarios someone should be punished to life imprisoned in some teapot or lamp or whatever."

"You're thinking about this too literally."

"And you're not thinking about it literally enough."

Myka was surprised by how defensive he'd suddenly become. "This really bothers you."

"Yes! If these really are people, we're condemning them to a life in a prison with no light or human contact. That would make any human bitter and angry."

Myka looked away, trying to find a way to tell him why she thought he was wrong. Instead, memories suddenly came back.

"Pete! I remember where the tea pot is!" Myka burst into a run.

Pete was right behind her.

#

Myka ran around a corner and came to a sudden stop. Pete wasn't far behind, but he was panting harder. He stopped next to her with his hands on his knees, but also looking at the dead man sitting in the office hidden behind machinery. She started toward the dead man, pulling on gloves.

"Myka, careful," Pete warned.

"I've got it." She carefully pulled the dead man's hands away and pulled the teapot from his rigid hands. She retreated a step, smiling. "I've got it, Pete."

"Good. Now let's get it in the bag." He pulled a bag from his pocket and shook it open

Myka turned, walking toward him. But she stopped just outside of the door, staring at it.

"What? What is it Myka?"

"I could bring the genie back and put the world back in order."

"What? Wait… No. No! Myka, bag the teapot."

"It has the power to turn back time. I could fix everything!"

"Myka, no. Do not do that. Put that thing in this bag right now. We—"

Myka tore off a glove and brushed her hand along the side of the teapot. Immediately dark clouds poured from the spout onto the floor and became a giant form that looked uncomfortable in a building far too small for it. It had features of a face, burning eyes of blue fire, and other features created by shadow and light.

"You beckoned, master?" the genie asked.

It took the two a moment to grasp what was happening. The Farnsworth in Myka's pocket began ringing.

"Give me that!" Pete said, grabbing the teapot away from Myka. "Now I am mad! Answer Artie."

Myka opened the Farnsworth, telling Pete, "All I have to do is make a wish and tell the genie to put the world back."

"What?" Artie snapped.

"We have the genie, Artie. I just have to wish the world back the way it was."

"NO!" Artie, Mrs. Frederic, and Leena yelled.

"Told you so," Pete whispered.

"Why? The genie has the power to change everything back.

"You do not understand how genies work, Myka," Frederic told her. "This one has already twisted dozens of wishes, including Pete's. You cannot trust it. The best we can hope for is to neutralize it and that the world will revert back."

Pete started examining the teapot. He looked up at the genie. Gears of thought began churning in his mind. There might be another way to fix the world, and more.

"But this genie could help us fix the world!" Myka argued.

Exasperated Artie told her, "Myka, do not make a wish. You will only make this worse!"

"I have a question," Pete said.

"What?" Myka and Artie snapped at him together.

"Was Myka wrong about what genies are, Artie? Are some of them demons and some of the human who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

Artie sighed. "I don't know, Pete, and it doesn't matter. Put the genie back in the—"

"I think it does, Artie. I think, that maybe today, that answer really matters. What do we know about this genie?"

"We…" Artie hesitated. He looked at Frederic and Leena. Neither knew. "We don't know anything about it. Why? What do you have in mind?"

Pete looked at the teapot. "What can you tell me about the teapot?"

"It was crafted by Dom, a nomadic people of the Middle East and sometimes referred to as gypsies; they have no relation to Romanian or European gypsies. The teapot is pure gold with a diamond set inside at the bottom and predates Babylon. Why are we even talking about this?" Artie asked.

Pete nodded. "So this genie has been imprisoned in this teapot for hundreds of thousands of years."

"Yes. Peter. Why?"

"And it does have the power to fix the world, doesn't it?"

As Myka said, "Yes," Artie told him, "No," and Frederic warned him, "Lattimer, put that teapot in the sack."

"Leena told us that neutralizing doesn't work sometimes. Can any one of you promise that this time it will? That our world will return to normal this time?"

No one could, but Artie tried to reason with him again. "Pete, you cannot trust—"

Pete walked closer to the genie. "What were you before you were in this teapot?"

"You are not my master," the genie told him.

"I'm… I'm not? Who is?"

"She is." The Genie pointed at Myka. "She became my new master."

"When?"

"When she rubbed the teapot."

"Okay. How do I become your master?"

"She must put me back and you must rub the teapot."

"Myka put the genie back in the teapot."

She took the teapot and ordered, "Return to your teapot, genie."

The smoke returned to the teapot.

"Give me the teapot now," Pete told her.

"Do not give him that teapot. Bag it, Myka," Artie told her.

Myka looked at the teapot, letting the light glitter across its bruised golden surface.

"Myka, he cannot do this. He—"

"Give him the teapot, Myka," Leena told him.

Myka turned to the Farnsworth. In the screen Mrs. Frederic and Artie were staring at Leena.

"I have a feeling…" Leena told him. "I have a positive feeling about this plan, but only if Pete makes the wish."

Artie looked at Frederic. She gave a shrug.

"Give Pete the teapot, Myka."

She obeyed.

Pete rubbed his hand across the teapot.

The genie reappeared, watching him with blue burning eyes.

"When were you human?"

Silence.

"I have to see this. Turn the Farnsworth around," Artie told Myka.

She moved over to a water heater and propped the Farnsworth up so they could watch. She was glad to have her hands back so she could press them against her abdomen and hide her nervousness.

"When were you human?" Pete repeated.

"A long time ago."

"Yes. But when? What was the year?"

"We didn't have years. We had harvests. I lost count of those a long time ago."

"Fair enough. What is the first year that you do remember?"

"Why do you care?"

Pete stepped closer. "I'm human."

The genie looked at Myka and then at him.

"The first year I can recall was 1215. I heard someone say it at the funeral of my master at the time. He was burned at the stake as a witch."

"I bet he was. How did you get in that teapot?"

"That isn't important."

"How did you get in that teapot?"

"It doesn't matter."

"I can ask this question all day."

"I can out live your days of questioning."

"Then I'll ask it until I die. How did you get in that teapot?"

"I was a servant girl to a prince. He liked to hurt his servant girls and when I fought, his vizier cursed me."

Pete laughed, glancing at Myka. She offered a worried smile.

"That sounds familiar, doesn't it? What's that story from, Mikes?"

"It's one of the Arabian nights."

Pete turned back to the genie. "Let's try this again. How did you get in that teapot?"

The genie moved in on Pete, the fire in its eyes flaring. "I can lie to you forever."

"You may have time, genie, but I can be _damned_ annoying. Ask her." He hiked his thumb over his shoulder at Myka.

The genie looked at Myka. She smiled wistfully and shrugged.

"He can be," Myka admitted.

The genie moved back. "Why all the questions? No one ever asks questions, just wishes."

"Oh, I have a couple of those, but not until we've gotten to know each other."

The genie looked like it was determined to out-stubborn Pete, but Pete clearly had patience on his side.

"I was married to this old man when I was fourteen harvests. He was old, and… He took me to his cottage out in the woods. There was no one out there. Just him and the animals. He had all kinds of strange animals there. He made me cook and clean and sleep on the floor. I couldn't take it! When he left for town one day I ran away. I was caught by this gypsy and she took me to a cave where there were other gypsies. They were chanting around a teapot. They made me drink something and when I woke up I was _in_ the teapot. They sold it to a trader and when he rubbed the teapot, I had to come out. When he made a wish, I had to give what he asked for. For a while he had me, then someone else rubbed the lamp and that man was dead on the floor. And that's how it started. People killed to get my teapot and me. Wars were fought. And I had to do what they asked every time"

Pete didn't speak right away. He sat the teapot down on the floor between them and then looked up.

"I am so sorry."

"For what?"

"For your life, genie. I'm sorry that's the life you've had to live. And you were so young when it started… I can't imagine what that would have been like."

The genie didn't answer.

"What did you look like when you were fourteen harvests?"

Very quietly it asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm curious. I want to see what you looked like as a human. I mean, I don't get to meet many of my ancestors, and chances are you might just be one of mine. Will you show me?"

"Oh…" Myka suddenly realized what his plan was. "You are a genius!"

Slowly the genie took the form of a fourteen year old girl in a skin dress with a necklace of sinew and stones. She had long brown hair and brilliant blue eyes. Pete smiled as he crouched down to be at eye level with her.

"You are very pretty. I imagine that your husband thought he had married a jewel when he saw you."

She looked away.

"Do you remember your name?"

She tried to remember. Her face suddenly scrunched with anger. "I only grant wishes. I will not answer any more questions."

"Okay," Pete smiled. "Genie, this world is broken right now. There's supposed to be billions of people on this planet and they're all gone. So are all the other living things. We can't have that, so I have to make a wish for the world first. And then I have a wish just for you. If you grant my first wish exactly as I've asked, I promise on my life, the next wish is yours."

"And what is the second wish?"

Pete winked at her. "Not so fast there, speed racer. My wish first, then yours."

She looks him up and down, measuring what he's telling her. She nods.

Pete moved a little closer and told her his wish, "I wish that the world was just the way it was before I woke up on the floor upstairs. That every human and every creature that was removed, is put back into its life just the way it was before you removed it, him, or her."

"That will make her wish go away." The genie pointed at Myka.

"Myka made the wish?" Artie asked.

Myka pulled back a little, out of sight of the Farnsworth.

"She wished that the people she cared about would never suffer and could live in peace. Did I not do what she asked? Are not the people she cares for safe and living in peace?

Myka stormed toward the little brat. "You know damn well that is not what I meant when I made that wish! I asked for—"

Pete leaped to his feet and caught Myka by the shoulders. He pushed her back to the Farnsworth and looked her in the eye.

"I got this."

She stared at him. Slowly she nodded. Pete returned to crouching before the girl.

"I know you did as you were asked, even if it wasn't quite the way Myka wanted it. But now I need you to do what I'm asking, and it needs to be exactly as I've asked. Please. I want to help you, but not until the world is fixed."

"Even if it means people will suffer? Or die? You want that? Right now, none of you will ever suffer or die. Why would you take that away?"

Her questions made Pete beam with pride. "You're worried about other humans! You do remember what being human is like. I could hug you."

An awkward silence fell with confusion on her face. She held her arms out for the promised hug. Pete only hesitated for a heartbeat and pulled her into a hug. She threw her weight against him, pressing her face into his shoulder. Thrown off balance Pete sat down and held her as tight as he could.

"It's been a long time since anyone gave you hug, hasn't it?" Pete asked.

"I always watched but… No one. No."

Pete smiled, kissing her head. "You deserved more than that." Pete closed his eyes a moment when he felt tears soak through his shirt. He stroked her head, but held her tight. "My dad always told me that when I needed him, I just had to close my eyes and go to sleep, and he'd be there. I wish, that when we need each other, all we'll have to do is go to sleep."

In a voice muffled against his shoulder she told him, "Your wishes are granted, master.

In an instant the world returns to its old self, unaware there had ever been a change."

In an instant he heard the roar of a crowded baseball game overhead. The rings of cellphones. Water began running through the pipes. The old world had returned.

In the office the janitor woke up and climbed onto his feet. He turned, seeing Pete and the genie, and then the teapot.

"That's mine!" the man bellowed.

Pete turned his head, watching the janitor heave his body from his chair as he picked up a baseball bat. He charged toward Pete and the genie. As he came out the door, Myka punched his jaw. The baseball bat flew up and she grabbed it. He hit the floor and started to get up. Aiming precisely where she wanted, she knocked him out with his baseball bat. She looked up, finding the genie and Pete staring.

She explained, "He died the last time I stunned him. Better a headache than a heart attack."

Pete chuckled. He turned his attention back on the genie.

"Do you remember your name?"

She shook her head.

"Then let's get you one. How about, for now, can I call you Genna? We'll spell it G-e-n-n-a.

"I like that name."

Pete smiled and was reward with a faint reflection from her.

"Do you know what today is, Genna?"

She shook her head.

"Today is your birthday. And for your birthday, I wish—"

Bright white light flashed in everyone's eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

This place felt strange and familiar at the same time. There were no buildings, no identifiable source of light, and no people. Pete tried to get his bearings as he walked through the expanse, but the land was flat and featureless. He turned and stopped.

A thirteen-year-old girl stood in his path. She had long brown hair and a brilliant smile.

"Why have you returned here, master?" she asked.

He was used to seeing her, so he answered. "I don't really know."

She walked up to him, tilting her head to the side. "You always tell me that, every time you come here, but I think you do know."

He smiled. She took his hand, turned it over, and traced the lines in his palm. She looked up in surprise.

"The Regents are letting you interview the other genies. You'll free the ones who did nothing wrong. Like me?"

"Like you?"

She laughed. Uncomfortably he laughed with her. She hugged him.

"You are a good, good man, Pete Lattimer."

Before he put his arms around her there was a flash of light.

#

Pete sat up in bed. Sunlight was glaring through the window into his face. He sat up, looking around his room. He had dreamt about the girl for weeks, always in the place and same abrupt ending, but never the same conversation.

He tried to wet his dry mouth. Unable to do that, he got up and got dressed for a jog. Pete trotted down the stairs, passing the living room. He saw Myka curled in a corner of the couch reading a newspaper. In the chair next to her, Leena was reading a book.

"I'm heading out for a jog."

"K," Myka answered. "Be back soon. We start those interviews this afternoon."

Pete grinned when she glanced at him. "Wouldn't miss that for the world, Mikes."

She returned his smile, watching him leave. Leena lowered his book.

"I have not seen him this excited to do something in a while," Leena commented.

Myka looked back at her paper. "It's a good thing we're doing, right?"

"Yeah!" Leena answered. "There are people in those vessels who will think you two are next to Santa Claus."

Myka smiled back at her. "And on that happy note," Myka looked back at the newspaper. "A teenage girl driving through the Bose, Montana area Sunday night noticed a car that had flipped off the road into a ditch. Stopping she helped save the lives of a family of four. The Good Samaritan declined comment or to give her name, but said she was happy to pay it forward from a good deed someone recently did for her." Leena was taken aback by that story and Myka noticed when she looked back at her. "What?"

"A week ago Claudia read me a similar story reported in Liberty Lake, Idaho. The teenager saved two children from a burning home, and she also said she was happy to pay it because someone did something good for her."

"Huh. That is weird."

The two thought about it a moment, and then went back to reading.

#

Pete jogged along the road, his mind drifting over his last assignment, then off to the past, and then to the last woman he flirted with. His mind returned to the recurring dream. Something about the dream encouraged him to go before the Regents and request permission to start interviewing the genies in their collection. He was convinced that there were some that were human, and had been wrongfully cursed or imprisoned. To his surprise, the Regents agreed. Today was the first day the team was beginning those interviews, searching for humans lost in a place like he imagined in his dream.

A car slowed down near him but he didn't notice right away. Pete glanced at it a couple of times before he slowed to a stop. The car stopped. He leaned over to see the driver.

Pete's breath caught when he saw the child of his dreams sitting in the passenger seat. Her brown hair was shorter and in sausage curls which bounced on the slightest movement. She smiled a brilliant smile.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi. Are you old enough to drive?"

"Nineteen. I'd say so."

Pete laughed. "You look a lot younger."

"I get that a lot. I'm a little lost. Which direction is Univille?"

He pointed down the road. "Go another five miles and you'll see a sign for it. Just follow the signs from there and you'll go right to it. Visiting family?"

"No. I got a job at that new plastics plant outside of town. I start the day after tomorrow. Do you live around here?"

"Sort of. Well, maybe we'll see each other around town."

"Don't wait too long, Pete Lattimer. I'm only here for a while." She put the car in drive and drove off.

Pete took two steps into his jog when he realized "How the hell did she know my name?"

#

In the car, Genna – she liked the name Pete had given her in those moments of her rebirth as a human – smiled, glancing in the rearview mirror at the befuddled man. She found that as a human she had an ornery streak, a want to pull pranks to make people smile. She knew that this playfulness, among other traits she now had, had been inherited from Pete, her master, when she changed.

She knew that someday she would meet him in town and she would tell him the truth. In the meantime, she could laugh at the puzzle she'd left him with.


End file.
